Adam Tuss, wtop.com WASHINGTON – Metro’s superintendent of bus transportation is defending his drivers after a disturbing investigation, first reported by WTOP, showed hundreds of Metro collisions and close calls.

“I’ve worked in Toronto, Los Angeles and Washington. I think our Metrobus operators are the best I’ve ever worked with,” Ted Harris said.

WTOP did a side-by-side comparison of public transportation in major cities throughout the country with federal statistics reported to the National Transit Database.

When comparing the L.A. bus system with the Metrobus system, WTOP found that even though the California buses covered more than twice the amount of revenue miles as Metro did in 2011, L.A. reported about 30 fewer injuries compared to Metro.

“When you’ve seen one transit system, you’ve seen one transit system. They are all different for different reasons,” said one transportation official who asked to remain anonymous.

Check out a breakdown of the Metrobus injury rate as compared to other city bus systems around the country. Follow Adam Tuss and WTOP on Twitter. (Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)